Harden, Siakam, VanVleet, Poeltl, Brown, DiVincenzo, Lakers
The Toronto Raptors are the most intriguing team in the eyes of various NBA executives around the league heading into free agency.
Fred VanVleet, 29, is poised to draw significant interest from the Houston Rockets, who are more unlikely to land James Harden in free agency as the days pass. With Houston prioritizing short-term deals for elevated salaries, there’s been a strong belief VanVleet could garner a two-year, $80-plus million deal, as Marc Stein recently noted. The Raptors would prefer to do a three-year deal with VanVleet closer to the $90-100 million range, league sources told HoopsHype.
Pascal Siakam also drew trade interest from several teams, including the Hawks, Hornets, Mavericks, Rockets, Pelicans, and Kings, according to a report from Michael Grange of SportsNet. League sources who spoke with HoopsHype said multiple teams who attempted to trade for Siakam were dissuaded from giving up a treasure chest of assets for the two-time All-Star in the final year of his contract since he was unwilling to discuss an extension elsewhere as Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes mentioned.
Jakob Poeltl is expected to receive strong interest from the Raptors, Spurs and Rockets in free agency, league sources told HoopsHype. There’s a belief around the league that Poeltl could command around $20 million annually and could end free agency with a deal in the ballpark of three years, $20 million, according to NBA executives who spoke with HoopsHype.
After trading away a first-round pick and two second-round picks to San Antonio at the deadline, Toronto wants to re-sign Poeltl as part of its core moving forward. Similarly to Nikola Vucevic’s situation in Chicago, losing Poeltl after giving up several assets to acquire him would have bad optics.
For San Antonio, which is loaded with cap space, bringing back Poeltl to play center alongside Victor Wembanyama is very appealing after Poeltl played the best basketball of his career with the organization. In addition, following the Kawhi Leonard trade to Toronto, which helped the Raptors win the title, it would be a level of payback if the Spurs could essentially have acquired a first-round pick and two seconds for a rental player.
For Houston, Brook Lopez has been a primary target on a short-term deal for an elevated salary, but his preference has always been to remain with Milwaukee should the offers be comparable in the high teens to $20 million average annual salary range. Poeltl would be a younger option who would fit the timeline of the team’s young core and provide the defensive presence Houston is seeking at center.
It’s also worth noting VanVleet and Poeltl worked effectively together as a pick-and-roll tandem in Toronto. With both players linked to the Raptors and Rockets, playing together could appeal to them going forward. Winning is also expected to be an important factor in Poeltl’s decision.
Rounding off this Raptors section, Toronto is expected to add Vin Bhavnani and Mike Batiste as assistant coaches to Darko Rajaković’s staff, league sources told HoopsHype.
Source: Hoops Hype
